1800s
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (31 jan 1800 – 22 may 1842 | Sault Ste Marie MI – Dundas, Ontario) Scots-Irish-Ojibwe poet, writer, pioneer, translator, aka Bamewawagezhikaquay [Woman of the Sound the Stars Make Rushing through the Sky]
1810s
1820s
Eliza Margaret Perry (03 jan 1828 – 03 jan 1862 | Pitosi MI – Austin TX) diarist, Texas pioneer / settler’s family member
1830s
Olympia Brown (05 jan 1835 – 23 oct 1926 | Prairie Ronde Township MI – Baltimore MD) author, suffragist, first female theological school graduate in US, first ordained American female minister
Mary Torrans Lathrap (25 apr 1838 – 03 jan 1895 | Jackson MI – Jackson MI) poet, preacher, suffragist, pen name Lena, temperance reformer, women’s progressive activist, aka The Daniel Webster of Prohibition
Anne Etheridge Hooks (03 may 1839 – 23 jan 1913 | Detroit MI – Georgetown VA) aka Gentle Annie, Civil War Union nurse / vivandiere, one of two women to receive Kearny Cross
1840s
Kate Mason Rowland (22 jun 1840 – 28 jun 1916 | Detroit MI – Richmond VA) editor, author, historian, biographer, genealogist, historic preservationist, charter member of United Daughters of the Confederacy
Elizabeth Bacon Custer (08 apr 1842 – 04 apr 1933 | Monroe MI – New York NY) author, lecturer, widow, historical figure promoter
Helen Jackson Gougar (18 jul 1843 – 06 jun 1907 | Hillsdale MI – Lafayette IN) author, women’s rights leader / activist / lecturer
Julia Ann Moore (01 dec 1847 – 05 jun 1920 | Plainfield Township MI – Michigan US) poet, poetaster, aka The Sweet Singer of Michigan
Mary Emma Byrd (15 nov 1849 – 13 jul 1934 | Le Roy MI – Lawrence KS) author, educator, astronomer, photographer
1850s
Alice Chipman Dewey (07 sep 1858 – 14 jul 1927 | Fenton MI – New York NY) PhD, author, mother, educator, philosopher, world traveler, women’s right activist, letter correspondent, co-founded Laboratory School with husband John Dewey
1860s
Bertha Van Hoosen (26 mar 1863 – 07 jun 1952 | Stony Creek MI – Romeo MI) essayist, physician, medical illustrator, women’s health advocate, autobiographical author, president / founding member American Medical Women’s Association
Ellen [Nellie] Warren Scripps Booth (10 jul 1863 – 24 jan 1948 | Detroit MI – Bloomfield Hills MI) philanthropist, co-founded Cranbrook Foundation cultural and educational center
Jennie Harris Oliver (18 mar 1864 – 03 jun 1942 | Lowell MI – Oklahoma City OK) poet, Poet Laureate of Oklahoma
Caroline Clement [Carroll] Watson Rankin (11 may 1864 – 13 aug 1945 | Marquette MI – Marquette MI) reporter, novelist, short story writer
Voltairine de Cleyre (17 nov 1866 – 20 jun 1912 | Leslie MI – Chicago IL) tutor, author, speaker, anarchist, freethinker, anti-state / marriage / religious domination
Mary Chase Perry Stratton (15 mar 1867 – 15 apr 1961 | Hancock MI – Detroit MI) ceramic artist, Pewabic Pottery co-founder, Arts and Crafts Movement member
Kathryn Leone Wood (25 jul 1869 – 12 mar 1936 | Kalamazoo MI – Los Altos CA) writer, artist, miniaturist, portait painter
1870s
Gertrude Buck (14 jul 1871 – 08 jan 1922 | Kalamazoo MI – Poughkeepsie NY) poet, playwright, essayist, professor, rhetorician, textbook author, Christian Scientist
Zelda Paldi Sears (20 jan 1873 – 19 feb 1935 | Brockway Township MI – Hollywood CA) novelist, actress, lyricist, playwright, screenwriter, businesswoman
Harriet Quimby (11 may 1875 – 01 jul 1912 | Arcadia MI – Quincy MA) aviator, journalist, drama critic, screenwriter
Katharine Dexter McCormick (27 aug 1875 – 28 dec 1967 | Dexter MI – Boston MA) biologist, suffragist, philanthropist, birth control advocate / financer
Madeline M. Murray (07 aug 1878 – 30 may 1958 | Albion MI – Battle Creek MI) teacher, children’s games inventor, real estate broker [age 70-76]
Edith E. Haworth (17 oct 1878 – 1953 | Michigan US – Detroit MI) artist, painter, pastellist, Detroit Society of Women Painters co-founder / treasurer
Irene Osgood Andrews (18 jan 1879 – 01 feb 1963 | Big Rapids MI – New York NY) writer, author, relief worker, factory inspector, focus on challenges facing women in American industries
Myrtelle May Moore Canavan (24 jun 1879 – 04 aug 1953 | Greenbush MI – Boston MA) author, physician, medical researcher, professor of neuropathology, one of first US female pathologists, best known for publishing description of Canavan disease
Lydia Jane Roberts (30 jun 1879 – 28 may 1965 | Hope Township MI – Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico) author, nutritionist, home economics pioneer, vitamin / mineral RDA innovator
1880s
Agnes Nestor (24 jun 1880 – 28 dec 1948 | Grand Rapids MI – Chicago IL) politician, labor leader, social reformer, autobiographical author
Linnie Marsh Wolfe (08 jan 1881 – 15 sep 1945 | Big Rapids MI – Berkeley CA) author, librarian, biographer, Pulitzer Prize laureate for Biography and Autobiography
Sallie Hall Steketee (11 sep 1882 – 04 jan 1939 | Grand Rapids MI – Grand Rapids MI) still life painter, National Association of Women Painters member
Helen Steketee (14 dec 1882 – 23 aug 1974 | Grand Rapids MI – Grand Rapids MI) artist, still-life / landscape painter
Clara Elsene Peck Williams (18 apr 1883 – 24 feb 1968 | Allegan MI – Gettysburg PA) painter, etcher, illustrator, comics artist, watercolorist
Emily Helen Butterfield (04 aug 1884 – 22 mar 1958 | Algonac MI – Neebish Island MI) artist, editor, author, architect, feminist activist, children’s book writer, first licensed female architect in Michigan, pen-and-ink / watercolor illustrator
Jane Macklem Crisp Murfin (27 oct 1884 – 10 aug 1955 | Quincy MI – Los Angeles CA) director, producer, playwright, screenwriter
Edna Ferber (15 aug 1885 – 16 apr 1968 | Kalamazoo MI – New York NY) novelist, playwright, short story writer, Pulitzer Prize winner
Ruth Thompson (15 sep 1887 – 05 apr 1970 | Whitehall MI – Allegan County MI) State politician, first MI Congresswoman, first woman to serve on US House Judiciary Committee
Anna [Big Annie] Klobuchar Clemenc (02 mar 1888 – 27 jul 1956 | Calumet MI – Chicago IL) labor leader / activist, founding president of local Women’s Auxiliary No. 15 of Western Federation of Miners, actively involved in Copper Country Strike [1913-14], first nominee to Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame [1996]
Marguerite de Angeli (14 mar 1889 – 16 jun 1987 | Lapeer MI – Philadelphia PA) children’s book author / illustrator
Perle Skirvin Reid Mesta (12 oct 1889 – 16 mar 1975 | Sturgis MI – Oklahoma City OK) socialite, ambassador, political hostess, autobiographical author
Flora Belle Ludington (12 nov 1889 – mar 1967 | Huron County MI – Mt. Holyoke MA) author, longterm Head Librarian for Mount Holyoke College
1890s
Ellen Dorothy Schulz Quillin (16 jun 1892 – 06 may 1970 | Saginaw MI – San Antonio TX) author, botanist, educator, museum director
Sarah Van Hoosen Jones (23 jun 1892 – aug 1972 | Stony Creek MI – Rochester MI) author, breeder, genetic researcher, first US female PhD in Animal Genetics
Golda Krolik (24 aug 1892 – 01 may 1985 | Detroit MI – Detroit MI) editor, civic activist, administrator
Ruth Fairchild Rogers (09 jan 1893 – 07 sep 1978 | Albion MI – Albion MI) editor, dental hygienist, fluoride activist / advocate, American Dental Assistants’ Association co-founder / president
Vivian Martin (22 jul 1893 -16 mar 1987 | Sparta MI – New York NY) philanthropist, stage / silent film actress, production company founder, young performer advocate / supporter
Alice Stanley Acheson (12 aug 1895 – 20 jan 1996 | Charlevoix MI – Washington DC) artist, watercolorist, landscape painter, wife of politician Dean Acheson
Ruth McDevitt (13 sep 1895 – 27 may 1976 | Coldwater MI – Hollywood CA) playwright, tv / radio / stage actress
Constance McLaughlin Green (21 aug 1897 – 05 dec 1975 | Ann Arbor MI – Annapolis MD) author, historian
Colleen Moore (19 aug 1899 – 25 jan 1988 | Port Huron MI – Paso Robles CA) memoirist, silent screen star, non-fiction author, doll house creator / collector / donator
1900s
Victorine du Pont Homsey (27 nov 1900 – 06 jan 1998 | Grosse Point MI – Wilmington DE) pioneer landscape designer / female architect, co-founded one of first US wife / husband architectural firms
Thelma Combes Terry (30 sep 1901 – 30 may 1966 | Bangor MI – Michigan) bassist, musician, bandleader, knitting instructor, founded Thelma Terry and Her Playboys, first American female jazz instrumentalist orchestra leader
Marion Bernice Carpenter Yazdi (09 oct 1902 – 02 feb 1996 | Marcellus MI – Natick MA) Bahá’i, writer, historian
Gwen Dew (18 jun 1903 – 17 jun 1993 | Albion MI – Scottsdale AZ) author, journalist, photographer, world traveler
Merze Tate (06 feb 1905 – 27 jun 1996 | Blanchard MI – Washington DC) author, scholar, professor, US diplomacy expert
Charlotte Armstrong Lewi (02 may 1905 – 18 jul 1969 | Vulcan MI – Glendale CA) novelist, screenwriter, fashion reporter, pen names: Charlotte Armstrong / Jo Valentine
Sara Gwendolyn [Gwen] Frostic (26 apr 1906 – 25 apr 2001 | Sandusky MI – Frankfort MI) artist, author, printer, sculptor, block printer
Aileen Fisher (09 sep 1906 – 02 dec 2002 | Iron River MI – Boulder CO) poet, playwright, children’s writer, fiction / nonfiction author
Cleo Hartwig (20 oct 1907 – 18 jun 1988 | Webberville MI – New York NY) sculptor
Mary Francis Kennedy [M. F. K.] Fisher (03 jul 1908 – 22 jun 1992 | Albion MI – Glen Ellen CA) memoirist, food / travel writer, Napa Valley Wine Library founder
1910s
Margaret Isabel Dunning (26 jun 1910 – 17 may 2015 | Redford MI – Santa Barbara CA) philanthropist, museum benefactor, auto restoration enthusiast, WWII Red Cross truck driver volunteer
Elizabeth S. Russell (01 may 1913 – 28 may 2001 | Ann Arbor MI – Echo Lake WA) author, zoologist, developmental biologist, aka Elizabeth [Tibby] Buckley Shull Russell, mammalian developmental genetics scientist
Aleda E. Lutz (28 dec 1915 – 01 nov 1944 | Freeland MI – Saint-Chamond, France) distinguished war heroine, flight nurse US with Army Nurse Corps, first American female combat death in WWII, second highest decorated woman in US history [after Civil War Doctor Mary Edwards Walker]
Rachael Mary Upjohn Light Meader (15 apr 1916 – 16 mar 2008 | Kalamazoo MI – Kalamazoo MI) heiress, explorer, philanthropist, aerial photographer
Aleda Ester Lutz (09 nov 1915 – 01 nov 1944 | Freeland MI – Saint-Chamond, France) WWII heroine, US Army flight nurse, first American woman to die in WWII combat, [after Civil War doctor Mary Edwards Walker] highest decorated woman in history of US military
Marjorie Swank Matthews (11 jul 1916 – 30 jun 1986 | Onaway MI – Grand Rapids MI) minister, scholar, preacher, administrator, first female elected Bishop in United Methodist Church
Fannie Lou Hamer (06 oct 1917 – 14 mar 1977 | Montgomery MI – Mound Bayou MI) sharecropper, civil rights activist / reformer
Helen Carey (31 jan 1918 – 15 may 2004 | Detroit MI – Southfield MI) film editor, short animated filmmaker, Dynamic Film Service founder / owner
Selma Fariberg (08 mar 1918 – 19 dec 1981 | Detroit MI – San Francisco CA) author, academic, social worker, pioneer child psychoanalyst, researched development of congenitally blind infants
Hildred R. Goodwine Phillips (12 mar 1918 – 27 dec 1998 | Wayne MI – Wickenburg AZ) artist, sculptor, greeting card illustrator, specialized in horses, animals, and Western scenes
Maritta Martin Wolff Stegman (25 dec 1918 – 01 jul 2002 | Grass Lake MI – Los Angeles CA) novelist
1920s
Margaret Hillert (22 jan 1920 – 11 oct 2014 | Saginaw MI – Beverly Hills MI) poet, children’s author, retired elementary teacher
Nancy Orr Talbot (17 aug 1920 – 30 aug 2009 | Charlevoix MI – Boulder CO) women’s apparel clothier / businesswoman
Anna Der-Vartanian (06 dec 1920 – 04 aug 2011 | Detroit MI – McLean VA) first female Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9), highest enlisted rank in US Navy, CIA counter-intelligence officer
Carol Emshwiller (12 apr 1921 – 02 feb 2019 | Ann Arbor MI – Durham NC) magic realism / science fiction novelist, short story writer
Rita Gallagher (01 sep 1921 – 02 feb 2004 | Detroit MI – Houston TX) romance novelist, writing instructor
Betty Reid Charbonnet Soskin (22 sep 1921 – Detroit MI) memoirist, civil rights activist, Unitarian Universalist member, National Park Service Ranger, oldest US National Park Ranger, helped create / assigned to Rosie the Riveter / WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond CA
Marjorie LaVern Olson Lazarus (21 mar 1922 – 27 nov 2016 | Muskegon MI – Madison NJ) poet, artist, art director, cartoon text / short fiction writer
Carolyn Cassady (28 apr 1923 – 20 sep 2013 | Lansing MI – Bracknell UK) Beat Generation writer, memoirist
Josephine Clay Ford (07 jul 1923 – 01 jun 2005 | Dearborn MI – Dearborn MI) philanthropist, patron of creative arts / cancer research
Gloria Rewoldt Whelan (23 nov 1923 – Detroit MI) poet, novelist, children’s / young adult short fiction author
Sarah Jeanette Sherman Jackson (13 nov 1924 – 18 may 2004 | Detroit MI – Halifax, Canada) American-Canadian artist, sculptor, pioneer digital artist
Alma Routsong (26 nov 1924 – 04 oct 1996 | Traverse City MI – Poughkeepsie NY) lesbian novelist, aka Isabel Miller, editor / proofreader, Daughters of Bilitis member
Elaine Stritch (02 feb 1925 – 17 jul 2014 | Detroit MI – Birmingham MI) singer, actress, author
Berta Rosenbaum Golahny (07 feb 1925 – 04 nov 2005 | Detroit MI – Newton MA) painter, sculptor, printmaker
Julie Harris (02 dec 1925 – 24 aug 2013 | Grosse Point MI – West Chatham MA) author, stage / film / tv actress
Bethany Beardslee (25 dec 1925 – Lansing MI) operatic soprano, former president Association for the Publication of New Music [APNM]
Carol Ruth Vander Velde Karp (10 aug 1926 – 20 aug 1972 | Forest Grove MI – Maryland US) violist, educator, mathematician
Barbara Dane (12 may 1927 – Detroit MI) political activist, blues / jazz / folk singer
Betty Ren Wright (15 jun 1927 – 31 dec 2013 | Wakefield MI – Racine WI) children’s author, ghost story writer
Esther M. Broner (08 jul 1927 – 21 jun 2011 | Detroit MI – Manhattan NY) novelist, ritualist, playwright, Jewish feminist writer
Eleanore Mikus (25 jul 1927 – 06 sep 2017 | Detroit MI – Groton NY) arts professor, visual-humanist-conceptual artist, Guggenheim Fellowship recipient
Maria Leone Alessi (05 mar 1928 – 14 oct 2012 | Detroit MI – Upper Nyack NY) operatic soprano
Natalie Zemon Davis (08 nov 1928 – Detroit MI) author, American-Canadian social / cultural historian
Betty Carter (16 may 1929 – 26 sep 1998 | Flint MI – Brooklyn NY) jazz singer, musician, composer, arranger, aka Betty Be Bop
Jackie Hirschhorn Ferrara (17 nov 1929 – Detroit MI) sculptor, draughtswoman, postminimalist artist, focus on stacked pyramidal structures
1930s
Wilma L. Vaught (15 mar 1930 – Pontiac MI) author, retired US military leader, first female to deploy with Air Force bomber, first woman to reach rank of brigadier general from comptroller field
Arla Stenseth Holroyd (07 feb 1931 – 23 jan 2018 | Detroit MI – Mt. Pleasant SC) editor, teacher, professor, photographer, docent of French Huguenot Church of Charleston, poets / painters / writers / sculptors hostess and supporter
Constance Davies Abernathy (20 jun 1931 – 18 jun 1994 | Detroit MI – New York NY) architect
Delloreese Patricia Early Lett (06 jul 1931 – 19 nov 2017 | Detroit MI – Los Angeles CA) singer, author, actress, producer, aka Della Reese, talk show host, autobiographer, Christian New Thought minister
Carline Hatcher Polite (28 aug 1932 – 07 dec 2009 | Detroit MI – Cheektowaga NY) author, dancer, civil rights activist, creative writing professor
Judith Becker (03 sep 1932 – Bay City MI) author, academic, anthropologist, ethnomusicologist, specialist in South and Southeast Asian music
Ellen Burstyn (07 dec 1932 – Detroit MI) director, producer, tv / stage / film actress, spiritual universalist, autobiographical author, born Edna Rae Gillooly
Marian Bayoff Ilitch (07 jan 1933 – Dearborn MI) Macedonian-American philanthropist, businesswoman, Ilitch Charities for Children co-founder, Little Caesars Love Kitchen disaster outreach founder
Louise Manoogian Simone (19 may 1933 – 18 feb 2019 | Detroit MI – New York NY) Armenian-American philanthropist, former president of Armenian General Benevolent Union [AGBU]
Mary Field Belenky (22 jun 1933 – 10 jul 2020 | Ann Arbor MI – Hanover NH) author, professor, nature lover, co-author of Women’s Ways of Knowing, focus on women’s moral and intellectual development
Kay Arthur (11 nov 1933 – Jackson MI) author, international Bible teacher, Precept Ministries co-founder
Gael Greene (22 dec 1933 – Detroit MI) author, novelist, restaurant critic, humanitarian, Citymeals-on-Wheels co-founder
Patricia Lee Gauch (03 jan 1934 – Lockmoor MI) children’s book author, publisher
Etterlene Louise Abbney DeBarge-Rodriguez (13 oct 1935 – Royal Oak MI) memoirist, gospel singer, songwriter, famous family matriarch, aka Mama D
Judith Guest (29 mar 1936 – Detroit MI) novelist, screenwriter
Betty Sanders Shabazz (28 may 1936 – 23 jun 1997 | Detroit MI – New York NY) educator, social reformer, civil rights activist
Nancy Willard (26 jun 1936 – 19 feb 2017 | Ann Arbor MI – Poughkeepsie NY) poet, author, novelist, children’s book illustrator
Elissa Panush Benedek (28 sep 1936 – Detroit MI) author, essayist, psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry, focus on forensic psychiatry, specialist / expert witness on child abuse / trauma / domestic violence
Alice Coltrane (27 aug 1937 – 12 jan 2007 | Detroit MI – Los Angeles CA) pianist, harpist, organist, composer, hymnist, spiritual author, multi-instrumental jazz musician
Ruth Laredo (20 nov 1937 – 26 may 2005 | Detroit MI – New York NY) US memoirist, classical pianist, aka America’s First Lady of the Piano
Margaret Julia [Marlo] Thomas (21 nov 1937 – Detroit MI) actress, producer, social activist, children’s advocate, philanthropist
Muriel Costa-Greenspon (01 dec 1937 – 26 dec 2005 | Detroit MI – New York NY) operatic mezzo-soprano
Margery Beddow (13 dec 1937 – 03 jan 2010 | Grosse Pointe MI – New York NY) dancer, actress, director, ballerina, choreographer
Nancy Milford (26 mar 1938 – Dearborn MI) author, biographer, professor
Barbara Steketee D’Amato (10 apr 1938 – Grand Rapids MI) novelist, serial mystery writer
Loretta Mae Moore Long (04 oct 1938 – Paw Paw MI) singer, actress, educator, education / multicultural speaker / consultant
Jeannette Delaine Washington (26 apr 1939 – Detroit MI) poet, novelist, professor, short fiction writer, pen name: Cherry Muhanji
Carol Smallwood (03 may 1939 – Cheboygan MI) poet, novelist, librarian, creative nonfiction author
Mary Jean [Lily] Tomlin (01 sep 1939 – Detroit MI) writer, actress, comedian, producer, memoirist
Martha Farnsworth Riche (16 oct 1939 – Ann Arbor MI) author, economist, former director of US Census Bureau, editor of The Numbers News, a founding editor of American Demographics magazine, research fellow at Cornell’s Center for the Study of Society and Economy
1940s
Shirley Love (06 jan 1940 – Detroit MI) operatic mezzo-soprano
Jeannie Peterson (18 feb 1940 – Suttons Bay MI) editor, journalist, arts activist, photographer, environmentalist
Greta Anne Hughes Berlin (06 apr 1941 – Detroit MI) co-editor, co-author, pro-Palestinian activist, Free Gaza Movement co-founder / spokesperson
Toi Derricotte (12 apr 1941 – Hamtramck MI) poet, professor of writing, co-founded Cave Canem Foundation summer workshop for African-American poets
Rita Clay Estrada (31 jul 1941 – Michigan US) author, romance novelist, pen names: Rita Clay, Tira Lacy, Rita Clay Estrada
Priscilla Esther Pietsch (22 dec 1941 – Detroit MI) occupational therapist
Stephanie Strickland (22 feb 1942 – Detroit MI) poet, essayist, anthologist, fiction / non-fiction writer, digital literature advocate
Penny E. Harrington (02 mar 1942 – Lansing MI) author, memoirist, female chief of Portland [Oregon] Police Bureau, first female to head major US police department
Gloria Gaither (04 mar 1942 – Battle Creek MI) Christian author, editor, speaker, academic, songwriter
Kathy S. Crawford (15 mar 1942 – Novi MI) author, business owner, state politician
Barbara Ross-Lee (01 jun 1942 – Detroit MI) family practitioner, osteopathic physician, medical education advocate, first female African-American medical school dean
Deidre Nansen McCloskey (11 sep 1942 – Ann Arbor MI) author, memoirist, born Donald N. McCloskey, LGBT rights activist / advocate, distinguished professor of economics, history, English, and communication
Susan Mesinai (25 sep 1942 – Detroit MI) poet, author, researcher, human rights / disappeared prisoners activist
Diana Lucile Paxson (20 feb 1943 – Detroit MI) Pagan / Heathen author, aka Diana the Listmaker, fantasy / historical novelist, founded Society for Creative Anachronism [SCA]
E. Jean Carroll (12 dec 1943 – Detroit MI) journalist, advice columnist
Patricia Polacco (11 jul 1944 – Lansing MI) author, illustrator, video filmmaker, dyslexia awareness advocate
Donna Denise Nicholas (12 jul 1944 – Detroit MI) actress, novelist, playwright, social activist, member of Civil Rights Movement
Kathleen A. [Kathy] Brynaert (15 jul 1944 – Detroit MI) educator, legislator, former Franciscan nun, youth development advocate
Marcia Muller (28 sep 1944 – Detroit MI) mystery thriller author
Nancy Pearl (12 jan 1945 – Detroit MI) author, librarian, literary critic, public radio commentator
Betty Mahmoody (09 jun 1945 – Alma MI) author, memoirist, public speaker, bi-cultural child protection advocate
Diane Renee Thomas (07 jan 1946 – 21 oct 1985 | Sault Ste. Marie MI – Malibu CA) screenwriter, died in drunk driving accident
Carol Anshaw (22 mar 1946 – Grosse Point MI) teacher, painter, novelist, short story writer
Gilda Radner (28 jun 1946 – 20 may 1989 | Detroit MI – Los Angeles CA) actress, comedian, memoirist, cancer awareness advocate
K. C. Cole (22 aug 1946 – Detroit MI) author, science writer, radio commentator, journalism professor
Anita Mann (21 oct 1946 – Detroit MI) dancer, actress, choreographer
Rebecca Anne [Becky] Allison (21 dec 1946 – Greenwood MI) author, cardiologist, LGBT activist / organization founder
Tonea Stewart (03 feb 1947 – Greenwood MI) actress, speech professor, aka Tommie Stewart, visual / performing arts college dean / educator
Christine O’Grady Gregoire (24 mar 1947 – Adrian MI) author, politician, WA state governor
Suzy Lake (24 jun 1947 – Detroit MI) artist, photographer, video maker, performance artist, American-Canadian
Amyre Porter Makupson (30 sep 1947 – River Rouge MI) author, stage actress, former news anchor / director of public affairs
Elaine Macklin Didier (01 jan 1948 – Michigan US) librarian, director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
Marty Davis (08 jan 1948 – Detroit MI) broadcast journalist, former network radio and television news anchor
Roslyn Maria [Roz] Abrams (07 sep 1948 – Lansing MI) journalist, television news anchor
Karen Tintori (01 sep 1948 – East Lansing MI) fiction / nonfiction author, collaborative novelist with Jill Gregory under pen name Jillian Karr
Barbara Henning (26 oct 1948 – Detroit MI) poet, novelist, fiction writer
Nancy Rutledge Zahniser (26 oct 1948 – 05 may 2016 | Ann Arbor MI – Denver CO) lecturer, academic, pharmacologist, research focus on dopamine in the brain in relation to addictive disorders
Candy Alt Crowley (26 dec 1948 – Kalamazoo MI) news anchor, talk show host, political correspondent
Francesca James (23 jan 1949 – Michigan US) writer, singer, actress, composer, director, producer
Susan Hekman (28 feb 1949 – Grand Rapids MI) author, essayist, postmodern feminist, political science professor
Marilyn Price-Mitchell (01 mar 1949 – Detroit MI ) author, columnist, psychologist, youth development expert, National ParentNet Association co-founder
Anne Lois Davies Romney (16 apr 1949 – Detroit MI) equestrian, social / political activist, converted to LDS Church, political family member, former First Lady of Massachusetts
Cyndy Truhan Garvey (16 jul 1949 – Detroit MI) memoirist, television personality
Maryanne Ellison Simmons (16 jul 1949 – Ann Arbor MI) artist, writer, publisher, printmaker, magazine founder
Mary Ruwart (16 oct 1949 – Detroit MI) research scientist, libertarian speaker / writer / activist
Linda Barnes (06 dec 1949 – Detroit MI) mystery novelist
1950s
Maria Ewing (27 mar 1950 – Detroit MI) operatic soprano / mezzo-soprano
Christine Lahti (04 apr 1950 – Birmingham MI) blogger, actress, film director, political activist
Carolyn Forché (28 apr 1950 – Detroit MI) poet, editor, professor, translator, human rights advocate
Maxine Trottier (03 may 1950 – Grosse Pointe Farms MI) writer, educator, American-born Canadian, children’s / young adult book author
Pamela Ditchoff (21 sep 1950 – Lansing MI) novelist, non-fiction writer, living in Nova Scotia
Susan Work Martin (24 oct 1950 – Croswell MI) auditor, essayist, public accountant, interim university president, first female president of Eastern Michigan University
Alexa Irene Canady (07 nov 1950 – Lansing MI) educator, researcher, retired pediatric neurosurgeon, first female / first African-American neurosurgeon
Susan Baker Weddington (06 apr 1951 – 01 sep 2020 | Detroit MI – San Antonio TX) politician, Christian conservative, former photojournalism instructor, former chair of Texas State Republican Party
JoAnn Watson (19 apr 1951 – Detroit MI) pastor, author, professor, tv / radio media personality
Lorraine Daston (09 jun 1951 – East Lansing MI) author, scholar, scientific / intellectual historian
Char Margolis (21 aug 1951 – Detroit MI) American-born television show host, self-proclaimed and controversial psychic medium, works in the Netherlands
Pamela Dawber (18 oct 1951 – Detroit MI) singer, actress, producer
Terry McMillan (18 oct 1951 – Port Huron MI) novelist, focus on female protagonists
Ann Maurice (11 nov 1951 – Detroit MI) author, tv host, home stager, interior designer
Betty Susan [Batya] Weinbaum (02 feb 1952 – Ann Arbor MI) poet, artist, feminist, essayist, professor, political activist, founding editor Femspec Journal
Ana Sui (04 aug 1952 – Detroit MI) fashion designer, charity fundraiser, made in American advocate, fashion industry preservationist
Shelley Mitchell (08 aug 1952 – Detroit MI) writer, actress, acting teacher, performance artist, founder / director Duse Studio of Dramatic Art
Kim Kashkashian (31 aug 1952 – Detroit MI) Armenian-American violist, educator, composer
Lee Upton (02 jun 1953 – St Johns MI) poet, fiction writer, literary critic
Jennifer Austin McLogan (14 aug 1953 – Flint MI) television news reporter
Lacena [Candy] Rustin Carson (19 aug 1953 – Detroit MI) author, businesswoman, co-founder of Carson Scholars Fund for scholarships for students grades 4-11
Sarana VerLin (19 sep 1953 – Detroit MI) violinist, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
Kathy Ann Kosins (15 feb 1954 – Highland Park MI) jazz / R&B singer, multi-media / abstract expressionist painter
Michele Marsh (09 mar 1954 – 17 oct 2017 | Detroit MI – South Kent CT) former news anchor / broadcast journalist
Lonette McKee (22 jul 1954 – Detroit MI) director, actress, producer, songwriter, screenwriter, music composer
Gilda Snowden (29 jul 1954 – 09 sep 2014 | Detroit MI – Detroit MI) African-American artist, mentor, professor, abstract painter
Mary Jo Salter (15 aug 1954 – Grand Rapids MI) poet, editor, essayist, playwright, children’s author
Susan Northway Olasky (30 aug 1954 – Royal Oak MI) editor, journalist, historical novelist, professor of public policy
Diane L. Cary-Brodeur (02 oct 1954 – Flint MI) Star Trek / science fiction / historical romance novelist, pen names: Lydia Gregory, Diane Carey, D. L. Carey
Elizabeth Potok Ehrlich (12 oct 1954 – Detroit MI) author, biographer, memoirist, journalism professor
Elbernita [Twinkie] Clark-Terrell (15 nov 1954 – Detroit MI) pianist, organist, arranger, producer, singer-songwriter
Clarice Tinsley (31 dec 1954 – Detroit MI) broadcast journalist
Adriana Vanelli (10 jan 1955 – 08 aug 2015 | Hazel Park MI – Springfield MO) operatic soprano, born Janet Lee Cessna, later Christian music performer
Holly Hughes (10 mar 1955 – Saginaw MI) feminist painter, lesbian performance artist
Sarah Weeks (18 mar 1955 – Ann Arbor MI) children’s novelist, picture book / chapter book author
Marcia Milgrom Dodge (28 apr 1955 – Detroit MI) stage director, dramaturge, choreographer
Sandra Bernhard (06 jun 1955 – Flint MI) author, actress, singer, comedienne
Velma Maia Thomas (18 jun 1955 – Detroit MI) author, historian, academic, heritage preservationist, ordained minister at Church of the Black Madonna, created Black Holocaust Exhibit, focus on slavery / emancipation / African-American history
Cheryl Studer (24 oct 1955 – Midland MI) operatic dramatic soprano
Alice Maxine Cook (30 nov 1955 – Lansing MI) sports reporter, former pair figure skater, founder / president She’s Game Sports new media company
Cynthia Ann Mort (18 jun 1956 – Detroit MI) television screenwriter / director / producer
Marsha Garces Williams (18 jun 1956 – Milwaukee WI) painter, former nanny, film producer, philanthropist, past personal assistant to former husband Robin Williams
Susan Kaiser Greenland (01 oct 1956 – Paw Paw MI) author, teacher, meditation / mindfulness activist / advocate
K. A. Applegate (09 oct 1956 – Ann Arbor MI) speculative fiction author, born Katherine Alice Applegate, aka L. E. Blair, Katherine Kendall, Beth Kincaid, A. R. Plumb, Pat Pollari
Jennell Jaquays (14 oct 1956 – Michigan US) artist, illustrator, video game designer, creative director for The Transgender Human Rights Institute in Seattle, Washington
Ranee Kathryn Gupta Brylinski (28 jan 1957 – Detroit MI) author, mathematician, professor of mathematics, co-founded Brylinski Research mathematical consulting company, known for research in representation theory and quantum logic gates
Barbara Ransby (12 may 1957 – Detroit MI) author, activist, historian, professor
Geri Allen (12 jun 1957 – 27 jun 2017 | Pontiac MI – Philadelphia PA) composer, educator, producer, jazz musician
Sharon Veronica LaFraniere (15 jun 1957 – Detroit MI) journalist, investigative reporter, national newspaper acting deputy editor
Debra Richtmeyer (19 jun 1957 – Lansing MI) classical saxophonist, saxophone professor, first female master class teacher at World Saxophone Congress
Laura Elizabeth Innes (16 aug 1957 – Pontiac MI) actress, director, disability activist, supports Performers with Disabilities Committee of Screen Actors Guild
Elizabeth Sims (30 sep 1957 – Wyandotte MI) poet, author, journalist, correspondent, contributing editor, mystery novelist, short story writer
Margaret Dudar LaMontagne Spellings (30 nov 1957 – Ann Arbor MI) politician, academic administrator, former president of University of California, former US Secretary of Education, founded Margaret Spellings & Company education consulting firm
Elizabeth [Betsy] Prince DeVos (08 jan 1958 – Holland MI) philanthropist, business woman, former US Secretary of Education
Lizzie Borden (03 feb 1958 – Detroit MI) feminist filmmaker
Ann Baldwin Gust Brown (15 mar 1958 – Bloomfield Hills MI) president of The Gap, director of Jack in the Box, business executive, former First Lady of California
Deb Lacusta (15 mar 1958 – Detroit MI) actress, television writer
Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone (16 aug 1958 – Bay City MI) author, actress, singer, dancer, songwriter, film director, record producer, businesswoman, humanitarian, aka Queen of Pop
Kristen Gremillion (17 nov 1958 – Detroit MI) essayist, anthropologist, paleoethnobotany specialist
Kären Wigen (29 dec 1958 – East Lansing MI) author, educator, historian, geographer, Japanese history expert, history of cartography specialist